Gunmen suspected to be bandits have taken over at least 15 communities in the Garba-Chede area of Bali Local Government Area of Taraba State and abducted hundred.
The residents have now relocated to Kaigama chiefdom in Garba-Chede.
Reports revealed that while some succeeded in fleeing the communities, several others, including women and children, were said to have been whisked away by the heavily armed kidnappers.
The monarch of Gamfurum, one of the affected communities, Muhammed Gamfuru, told journalists that the bandits take their victims to the mountaintop to negotiate for ransom.
He said he and his family members, including his wives and children, have been under the watchlist of the kidnappers, forcing him to relocate his family.
The monarch, presently domiciled in Garba-Chede, said, “We have no option than to run away from our towns and villages to safe areas because the bandits are in large numbers each of them carrying two to three AK-47 guns.”
Gamfuru who was worried about the number of victims presently in the kidnappers’ dens, stated that the bandits force them to carry their loads whenever they move their base to another location.
He disclosed that over 100 persons, including about 20 women and children, have been abducted.
The monarch urged the authorities concerned to put in place measures that would help flush out the bandits.
Gamfuru cited how six kidnapped victims recently regained their freedom after paying N7 million in ransom.
The State Police command’s Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Abdullahi Usman, in an interview with newsmen said that the command is aware and has set up a joint patrol team comprising soldiers, hunters and vigilantes.
He added that policemen had been deployed on Friday, adding that more would be sent to the troubled areas on Monday.
It was learnt that the bandits besieging the state were those that fled Zamfara, Katsina, Kebbi, and Sokoto in the North-West of the country.
